Will Drought Lead To Bacon Shortage?

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMOX) – The widespread impact of this summer’s drought continue to be felt, with bacon production now taking a hit.

KMOX’s Allison Blood reports that no rain means higher corn prices, which translates into a bigger bite out of revenue collected by Missouri pig farmers such as Mark Newman.

“I sell very high-end Berkshire pork to restaurants from New York to San Francisco,” Newman says. “This isn’t an animal that you can feed ten-dollar corn to and never make a profit.”

Newman adds that because he ships product all across the country Newman says the cost of fuel has also become a major consideration on his operation’s bottom line.

“Let’s just hope that we can hold on,” he concludes.

According to CBS News, the National Pig Association in Great Britain is reporting that annual pig production for Europe’s main pig producers fell across the board between 2011 and 2012, a trend that “is being mirrored around the world.”

The group tied the decline to increased feed costs, an effect of poor harvests for corn and soybeans.

Even though the pig association issued its dire prediction as part of a campaign to get British supermarkets to pay pig farmers more for their products, the possibility of a pork shortage received plenty of coverage in American news outlets.